At Last
by magpieforjoy
Summary: A night out with Lois and Chloe leads to a turning point in Clark's life without which Clois could not be possible, at least in the Smallville universe. AU, takes place mid-season 7. Written for the 12 Days of Clois 100-Prompt Challenge.


**At Last**

09/03/2007

**Rating:** K+

**Summary:** A night out with Lois and Chloe leads to a turning point in Clark's life without which Clois could not be possible, at least in the Smallville universe. AU, takes place mid-season 7.

**Disclaimer:** All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

**Author's Note:** Written for the 12 Days of Clois 100 Challenge – Prompt #81 Relief.

* * *

_Lana: I have this fear that one day you'll finally get a good look at me, and... I'm going to disappoint you. That you'll see that – that I'm not a strong, or as good as you think I am. And I'm afraid that it'll change the way you feel about me.__  
Clark: Nothing could ever do that.__  
Lana: Maybe it's me that needs to start believing in you._  
Smallville, Episode 2.21, "Accelerate"

* * *

One of many shouts of laughter that had burst forth from the three friends all night again filled the car as Lois finished regaling Chloe and Clark with her latest chapter of "Ralph the Copy Boy: The Continuing Saga." Times like these, where all three could get together and catch up on both the mundane and ridiculous of each others' lives had become scarce of late. Sure, Lois and Chloe now worked in the same building, but they chased different stories and wrote them on different floors – though that wasn't the main reason for the recent lack of contact. Clark had been having trouble finding much time at all, between looking after Kara (with the added bonus of learning as much as possible from her – his Kryptonian heritage and "destiny" sounded much better coming from her than it ever did from his biological father), keeping up with Oliver's crusade against 33.1 and other Luthor schemes, dealing with the requisite "meteor freaks" that were part of the package deal that was living in Smallville, running the farm, and being with Lana every other possible moment in a super-powered effort to participate in a completely committed, secrets-and-lies-free relationship with her.

Nights like these... Clark could never absolutely forget the burden of his abilities, but when he was here with Chloe and Lois, he felt immeasurably lighter, especially when he and Chloe made subtle, but completely over-Lois'-head references to the aforementioned abilities. Though Lois would never know this, those moments were when he felt the most affectionate toward her. Now one of the only people close to him not in on _the secret_, he felt that innocence was precious, and he hoped to keep that extra burden that weighed on his mother, Pete, Chloe, and Lana from resting on her, too. Not that she couldn't handle it, but she got into enough trouble as it was.

As Lois pulled into a parking spot by the Talon, effectively bringing their night out in Metropolis to an end, Clark felt his heart sink. When would be the next time he'd feel so content, he wondered? Lois and Chloe began to exit the car, but Clark sat stock still. Where had that traitorous thought come from? It would be the next time he saw Lana, of course. He quickly pushed the door open before the girls noticed anything amiss, and he hugged them goodnight, promising to be in touch with them soon. Jogging in the direction of the farmhouse amidst belated shouts of "Goodbye, Clark!" and "Later, Smallville," he went only as far as he needed to escape the notice of prying eyes, and he ran the rest of the way home in a burst of superspeed, anxious to see Lana's face and lay this sudden turmoil to rest.

He crossed the threshold of the darkened house quietly and immediately tripped over a large object that certainly hadn't been there when he left. Upon closer inspection, Clark saw it was an opened package, postmarked from Paris. The way the stylish dresses inside were wrinkled and clearly rummaged through, he was chagrined to realize that Lana's heightened sense of fashion was evidently not the purpose of this purchase. Clark had begged her to leave her connection with Countess Marguerite Isobel Theroux be – her interest with whom Clark firmly believed had been her first step toward a taste for darkness that had led straight toward a disastrous relationship with Lex Luthor. Obviously, she had disregarded his concerns and fears, to pursue… what? A demonic relationship with a witch long dead? What really galled him was the argument that still stung him, in which she had compared this thirst for forbidden knowledge to his training to _save the world_.

This sudden confirmation of Lana's decidedly human weaknesses made Clark feel like his whole world was collapsing around him. Hardly able to breathe, he ran up the stairs toward his room, where he knew Lana would be slumbering, unaware that her boyfriend's whole life had just been forever altered in a million tiny ways, and in one fundamentally big one. He stared at her sleeping form, leaning for support against the doorway of the bedroom in which he had spent his entire childhood and adolescence thinking of her.

She didn't look different, but she was, as if a bright spotlight had thrown her very soul into sharp relief against the illusion he had created at the age of five.

He could see now what had kept them apart wasn't any external force he had blamed for the past fifteen years: her kryptonite necklace (in fact, all various forms of kryptonite which had caused so much trouble), the many boyfriends that had flocked to her over the years, crystals, his reluctance to tell her his secrets, meteor infected people, reincarnations, friends, distance, even Lex Luthor. It was their deep-seated incompatibility. She _wasn't_ as strong or as good as he thought she was. And amazingly, it _did _change the way he felt about her.

Maybe Clark was destined to be alone, and the bracelet which Kyla's grandfather had given him meant for his soul mate was doomed to gather dust in his "Fortress of Solitude"- he couldn't know that for sure. But with a sigh of final relief and contentment, he at last knew that Lana would certainly never wear it.


End file.
